The God Machine (9 page)

“Divine healing!”

“Deliverance from sickness is provided for in the atonement,” he said.

“Baptism in the Holy Spirit!”

“Yea, all believers are entitled to receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit, and should expect and seek the promise of the Father. And what's the last pillar, my brothers and sisters?”

“The Second Coming!” someone shrieked.

Michael turned toward the voice. “That's right,” he said. “The Second Coming.” A rampart of kettle drums sounded. Horns blew. The words
WHY STUDY THE END-TIMES
appeared on the gargantuan screen, superimposed upon Michael's flushed face. “It is fitting to study the End-Times for three reasons: first, to come to know Jesus; second, because the Bible tells us to be prepared for His coming; and third, because when Jesus returns He will bring His reward, as the apostles foretold. Al most all the letters of the New Testament look forward to some future age. And they call for complete obedience in lifestyle as it relates to the judgment and blessings you'll receive in that future. I tell you that great and terrible Day of the Lord…” he continued as the stage lights grew dim and the spotlight went out, “…which the Bible tells us will shake the whole world, the whole planet, is coming—sooner than you probably think.”

With that, the auditorium seemed to erupt into flames. Fireworks burst in the air. Giant screens behind the stage came to life. They depicted volcanic explosions and earthquakes and floods. They pictured infernos of fire. The seats of the auditorium started to shake, to bounce, and a portentous blowing of horns filled the air. Then it stopped. A spotlight shone down on a figure on the far side of the stage—a young girl, dressed in white. She was kneeling and praying, bathed in pearlescent
light. Another spotlight shone down upon Michael. “But there is a shift taking place in this world,” he continued, “especially amongst the young, such as you.” The screens of disaster were replaced by a close-up of the young girl in white, fused gently with Michael's own face. “God is stirring you to seek out more than an eBay of self-help philosophies. Could it be, I ask you, that the Holy Spirit is awakening a prayer movement to contend for revival on a planetary scale?

“Much has been written about the first generation of Christians, who seemed convinced that the Lord would return in their lifetimes.” Renderings of the saints and apostles shimmered behind him. “Then, something happened.” A depiction of the Temple of Jerusalem filled the screen. In a flash, it was gone, burnt to rubble. “Jerusalem was destroyed in
A.D
. 70 after a failed Jewish revolt, and with it, the Temple. Brick by brick, as Jesus foretold. Then, in 135, after another rebellion, Jerusalem was wiped off the face of the earth. The kingdom of Israel was no more. And many Church leaders began to write of the end of the world as something that would take place in the future. The far distant future. They didn't know what to do with those Biblical passages that speak about Israel, a nation that had ceased to exist. Until 1948. And the rebirth of Israel as a nation. And the return of Jerusalem to Israeli control some years later. This return of the Jews to the land which was promised is a signal of a change in the seasons. It presages the sequence of signs and events that will culminate in the birth of a terrible age of renewal.

“Jesus listed the signs that will tell us the End-Times are nearing, in the Beginning of Sorrows,” said Michael. “‘You will hear of wars and rumors of wars… Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom… There will be famines and earthquakes in various places… The
sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light…’ Say ‘Amen!’”

The crowd responded as one: “Amen!”

“Why will these events be so massive, so intense?” Michael asked. “The answer is not because God is severe, but because the condition of the Earth will become so acute that no alternative course will be possible. Is it happening now? Are we nearing the End-Times?”

The three screens behind him burst into focus, revealing scenes of devastation and flooding. “In 2005, eighty percent of New Orleans was deluged by Hurricane Katrina, and a first-world metropolis was instantly transformed into a third-world disaster. But while liberal media outlets like
Time
magazine mocked the explanation that the hurricane was God's judgment on that city for sin, for those who believe, there can be no debate. Un like the terrorist attacks of September eleventh, where many groped for answers about the source of that trouble, this time the answer was clear. Only God controls the monumental forces of nature. As Jeremiah predicted, God has a controversy with the nations over sin.”

Michael strode to the edge of the stage. He lifted his arms. “I tell you, my brothers and sisters, Katrina was not just a judgment on New Orleans. It was a judgment over
all
who embrace darkness and sin. The cataclysms of the past few years—terrorist attacks, tsunamis, hurricanes—are but harbingers of terrible events still to come, preludes to the ultimate End-Times.

“The Bible speaks of the great ‘Bride’ of Christ, bundling up all believers into one holy group. In contrast, Revelation describes a monstrous figure named the Mystery Babylon, a woman ‘arrayed in pearls and scarlet, adorned with gold.’ Of course, she is not a real woman, but a symbol of a global religion. She embodies the spirit of our current age: self-indulgence, self-worship and self-gratification. Who here isn't tempted
by these new world religions that speak of deliverance through the discovery of self? But I tell you the Mystery Babylon will presage the ‘Great Tribulation,’ during which billions of people will perish.”

The screen displayed a map of the world. Little icons of people measured out populations. In an instant, the icons began to disintegrate, and a death toll rolled off in a box to the right. “Combining the numbers described in chapters six and nine of Revelation, plus chapter thirteen of Zechariah, half of the world's population will be taken. Wiped out. Put to death.”

The great screens went dark. Only Michael's pale face was still visible. “How could—no, how
will
this happen?” He looked out at the mesmerized crowd. “It will begin with the devil.” A highly stylized picture of Satan appeared on the screen in the middle. The audience hissed. “Satan's plan involves two main strategies: to wipe out the beneficiaries of God's prophecies—the Christians and Jews—and to set up his agent as king of the world.

“To many,” said Michael, “the Antichrist is simply a fable, a creation of biblical conspiracy theorists. But studying the Antichrist will prepare us to face his swift rise to power, for his dominance will be part of the End-Times. There is much speculation about this future world leader. Some believe that he's living today. Regardless of his origins, when he arrives on the scene, he'll make a huge impact, on an international scale. Daniel says of the Antichrist that ‘he shall confirm a covenant with many’ Israel will be one of the many nations that participate in this covenant, portrayed as a peace treaty. They'll be fooled into making a deal with the Antichrist. As a result of the security that comes out of this treaty, a new world religion will be born—the religion of the Mystery Babylon—and the Antichrist will begin his ascension to power. He will leverage this new world religion, benefiting from the network of connections and
the economic prosperity it engenders. And behind the scenes he'll be building his resources and amassing his forces, making the kind of backroom agreements and side deals that will eventually propel him to power.

“Once the Antichrist has set into place this religion, he will begin the mass murder of Christians and Jews. He will entice the world's nations with false signs and prosperity. Ten kings will hand over all governmental authority to the one man amongst them, the Antichrist, who can take over the city of Babylon and its religious and economic resources, and establish the ten-nation empire as the one true international power.
Where is Babylon?”

Michael pointed behind him and a screen sprang to life. A map of the Middle East came into focus. Babylon was marked with a tiny red star. And above it the name of the nation: Iraq. “That's right,” Michael said. “In Iraq. When Satan comes to Earth, the Antichrist and his allies will destroy the city of Babylon. Worse, the Antichrist will move to establish himself as the one true God, and set up an image of himself in the Holy of Holies. Those willing to join in worshiping him will be given a mark that will enable them to participate in the global economy. Those who refuse to bow down will be brutally murdered. But while this is happening, an even more dramatic event will take place in the throne room of Heaven. God will hand over to Jesus a scroll—the ‘deed’ to the Earth—and this will be so momentous an occasion that the angels around the throne room will break into song. A new song.”

The auditorium was suddenly filled with a single clear note. A spotlight shone down on a young boy dressed up as an angel. As the spotlight expanded, it revealed even more choristers singing. Soon the whole room resounded with a glorious sound, a bright tapestry of synchronous voices.

“When Jesus opens the scroll, He will break seven seals, thereby paving the way for His eventual return to the Earth.” A huge hand appeared on the screen in the center, holding a cream-colored scroll. “As the first seal is broken, the Antichrist will demand that all people revere him as God.” A mighty roar, like a thunderclap, unrolled through the chamber. Images flashed on the two outside screens. Great crowds of people surrounded an idol that moved. The image started to bubble and burn, as if the film had slipped from its sprockets and jammed the projector. The scene burned and curled up, revealing depictions of warfare beneath.

“This enforcement will at first be quite bloodless, but will soon become a full-scale international war. When Jesus breaks the second seal, the false peace on Earth will be shattered.” Another thunderclap echoed. “When Jesus breaks the third seal, the world war waged by the Antichrist will lead to a famine of global proportions.” The screens displayed endless lines of humanity, waiting for handouts at soup kitchens, roaming the highways. More thunder roared. “When Jesus breaks the fourth seal, one quarter of all the people of the Earth will die by the sword, from hunger or disease or wild animals. When Jesus breaks the fifth seal, those martyring the saints will experience their due torment and death,” Michael said. Crude black-and-white photos of death camps, with corpses piled high, flashed behind him. “The breaking of the sixth seal will unleash extraordinary cosmic disturbances; the sky will roll back like a scroll and every land mass will shift. And when Jesus breaks the seventh and final seal, it will initiate the sounding of trumpets.”

Instantly, all the screens dimmed. The house lights went down, till the hall turned pitch black. Then, once again, the auditorium was filled with the blaring of horns—first one, then another, until seven resounded.
This time it was uncomfortably loud. Strobe lights flashed through a great fog of dry ice. Without warning, the trumpeting stopped, trailed by a cool rush of silence. The only sound was the rumbling of the quivering seats as they started to vibrate again, at first barely at all, then with increasing rapidity. Michael could hear some of the teenagers screaming.

“The judgments that accompany the trumpets will be akin to the great plagues of Egypt which Moses brought down upon Pharaoh. While the first four will be used to destroy the provisions of the Antichrist's worshipers, the last three, the ‘woes,’ will affect them directly…” The screens suddenly burst into light, showing hideous creatures, like bats out of Hell, swooping down upon figures. “… using demons to torture and kill them.”

Three spotlights shone down upon Michael and Judy and Thaddeus. They looked up at the ceiling as the chorus started singing again. “At the sounding of the last trumpet, Heaven will break into great rejoicing and proclaim, ‘The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and his Christ.’ It's time for the great King's return. But before He descends, Jesus will gather the saints in the sky—those who truly believe—in the Rapture.”

Judy suddenly vanished. One minute she was there; then she was gone. Her spotlight narrowed and vanished. Thaddeus was next. And then Michael. All three vanished from the stage like some magic trick. A rippling of chimes filled the chamber. It shimmered, then faded away. “As believers are ‘caught up’ in the air,” Michael said, still invisible, “they will be transformed ‘in the twinkling of an eye,’ into what Paul calls their ‘spiritual bodies.’”

A hologram of Michael Rose floated over the audience. He glowed with a strange inner light. “When Jesus returns, some will mourn. Many will have taken the
mark of the beast and must now face the consequences. And others, tricked by the Antichrist, will believe that Jesus is Satan, intent upon destroying the world. Numerous kings and world leaders—who resisted the Antichrist until now—will change their minds and join with him to face the growing threat out of Bozrah. They will be enticed by demons, energized by the Antichrist. They will lead their armies to the gathering point, to Mount Megiddo and the Valley of Jehoshaphat, to lay waste to Jerusalem. Jesus will release the great bowls of wrath, and the most powerful earthquake in history will rattle the Earth. Mountains will fall. Roaring waters will cover the earth.”

The auditorium erupted as a cold spray misted the audience from the rear of the vibrating seats. There were screams, cries of panic. Then the screen at the center seemed to shatter. A brilliant white light shot out from the back of the chamber, transfixing the stage. The strobe lights blinked wildly. The dry ice machines kept on pumping. The chorus rose out of the stage. They were singing Handel's
Messiah
. A gigantic white horse appeared on the screen, with the figure of Jesus upon it, surrounded on all sides by a heavenly host. And Michael ascended from out of the floor, dressed in a long snow-white robe, directly in the midst of the audience. He pointed behind him. “Then Jesus will ride into battle. Alleluia!” he cried. “Clothed in white, on a horse, with the armies of Heaven around him.” Michael strode down the aisle, through the audience. “At the end of the battle, the Antichrist will be captured and cast, whilst alive, into ‘the lake of fire burning with brimstone.’” Michael paused, took a breath. The figure of Jesus and his horse on the screen slowly faded, replaced by a play of soft lights—blues and pinks, gold and purples—as the choral group reached its crescendo.